Fri, Apr 19, 2013 page15

Chinese bank ICBC tops ‘Forbes’ Global 2000 list

ASIA RISING:
Chinese banks took the top two spots on the list of the world’s largest public firms from Exxon and JPMorgan, as 41 Taiwanese companies also made the list

AFP, WASHINGTON

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC, 中國工商銀行) knocked US oil giant ExxonMobil from its perch as the world’s biggest public company on Wednesday to take the No. 1 spot on the Forbes Global 2000 list for the first time.

Underscoring the power move by Chinese companies to top global rankings, China Construction Bank (CCB, 中國建設銀行) leaped 11 spots from last year to the No. 2 spot on the Forbes list of the world’s largest public companies.

“This year’s list again reveals the dynamism of global business,” said Scott DeCarlo, the list’s editor.

Forbes said that ICBC and CCB were bumped higher in the ranks by double-digit growth in both sales and profits last year, although annual profit growth for both banks was the slowest rate since they went public.

ICBC brought in US$37.8 billion in profits on US$2.8 trillion in assets last year, while CCB earned US$30.6 billion on US$2.2 trillion in assets.

The rankings of the Forbes top 2000 are determined by an equal weighting of sales, profits, assets and market value.

Wall Street bank JPMorgan Chase, the world’s biggest company in 2011, slipped from No. 2 last year to No. 3 this year as sales dipped.

US conglomerate General Electric Co moved down a notch to the fourth spot.

US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil tumbled from its one-year reign at the top last year to the No. 5 spot, despite being the world’s most profitable company for the second year in a row with US$44.9 billion in net income, Forbes said.

Apple Inc, which has vied with Exxon over the past year for the title of the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization, was tied at No. 15 with Wal-Mart Stores.

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